Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Today’s article will give you great ideas about how to give your own home a great Adventureland theming. Yes, what about the idea to create your own adventureland? That sounds a pretty good idea, doesn’it? Probably, you may have think about it, and very probably too, you've stopped thinking about it immediately, for one main reason: unaffordable, too expensive, impossible......don’t even think about it!Well, knowing the price of even the most modest of Disney attractions, I would have said not too long ago that your conclusion might be spot on. However, we may be entering an era where it won’t be totally impossible to bring a little of the magic home, and it might even be affordable. Let’s be clear , i am not going to tell you that in the near future each of you could recreate your own jungle cruise for 2000$, because obviously it will never be the case, but if we take other examples, like, let’s say, to recreate a “ tiki room” environment, there, it may be different...

So, we all love the tiki room and jungle cruise, don’t we? Well, here is a great web site that you’re going to love instantly: http://www.pariarts.com/

Created by two WDI imagineers, Paul Torrigino ( who designed attractions for Epcot, Animal Kingdom, Disneyland Paris and Tokyo Disney sea ) and Richard Guttierez ( who was the field art-director for tokyo disney sea ‘s little mermaid lagoon ) , this is the place for beautifully hand-crafted tiki signs , as they say on the opening page. Well, it’s more than that : the tiki signs that Pariarts will design for you - personnalized or “custom” - are more than great, expertly hand crafted on solid redwood and there is plenty of retro designs to choose . Needless to say that most of them have a “disneyland” spirit-like that will be a delight for any disneyland lover.And , yes, if you’re a Disneyland’s Tiki room addict, they are doing a “tiki room” sign. Have a look to some examples of what can be done below, and then, jump to their web site and “click” on any link of the menu, as everything is incredibly great to look at!

Don’t miss the “tikiland” section, with lot of photos of a home created with a totally adventureland theming, may be you’ll find some interesting decorative ideas there.

Oh, i forgot: not only the tiki signs are beautiful, but the sizes are great and the prices , particularly for specially custom "one-of-a-kind" products are really reasonable ( from 375$ for a custom 23” tiki sign ).

Once you have the entrance tiki sign, you’ll need what? well, the tikis, and the birds of course! For the birds, don’t forget that disney direct was selling a wonderful reproduction of the “Barker bird” , and this one is part of their disneyland 50 th anniversary collectibles designed by Kevin Kidney and Jody Dailey released last year. You probably can find it on ebay, now.

You’re gonna tell me that, although the bird replica is perfect it’s still not an audio-animatronic as there is no mechanism inside. That’s true, but the good news is that it’s possible to install inside a mechanism, as they used the original molds, which means that there is empty space inside the bird, and all the room needed to do it...

Let’s not forget the great “tiki drummers” of the Tiki room, as they are now available in a perfect real size reproduction at disney direct, too ( 25 “ high, 175$ ). And a light inside the drum makes great lighting on their face! And here, too, it’s possible to put a mechanism to have the arms moving!

And if you want to open the door to your guests just dressed as were the original 1963 host , it’s possible too, with these “host shirt and hostess dress “ also released on disney direct !

Now, about the Tikis. It’s a little bit more complicated, but i have a great adress for you: Oceanic arts. Oceanic Arts is a company founded 50 years ago by Bob Van Oosting and Leroy Schmaltz...who both love Tikis. (Bob handles the business, and LeRoy the carving and production.) More than that, it's the world's leading supplier of tropical and Polynesian decor.For restaurants, hotels, Disney theme parks or others, film productions, exhibit, ...and, that the point that interest us: tropical style home and landscaping! If you need any kind of adventureland decor or props , Oceanic arts have it for you, and i mean : anything ! I remember the day, three years ago when i receive their catalogue, i almost fell out of my chair when i saw all the great items it was possible to order to them. Need some great specially-sculpted-tikis - from 3 feet high to 20 feet high ? they have it! need some polynesian thatch, tiki rail posts, polynesian figures, hardwood natives shields or masks? they have it! some polynesian lamps, canoe wall decors, fiberglass parrot or crocodile, tiki torches, or even better: south seas natives canoes? you’ll find it there, too! You need some more nautical props for a kind of pirates of carribean atmosphere like these old crates or redwood barrels? they have it, too! Oceanic arts is doing nearly everything you need to create a home adventureland decor. Now, they do have a web site , which is mainly a front page, i.e you won’t see any photos of their products on it. But, i more than strongly recommand you to order them their catalogue which cost only 10$, and which is, as i’ve said an incredible mine of everything-you-need to theme your own home or garden with a Polynesian style. Here below are some pictures from the Oceanic Arts catalogue.

http://www.oceanicarts.net/

By the way, don’t miss while it’s still available the best book about tikis “the book of tiki” , published by taschen. This book is a mine of infos and photos of everything about tikis since the 1950’s - you’ll even see some photos of Leroy Schmaltz, Oceanic arts owner already sculpting tikis in the 1960’s! The book is beautiful , have 288 pages, and available at amazon for only 19,99$, and that’s a bargain!

Now, talking about jungle cruise , You can also add in your now-new adventureland decor some little collectible elements like this wonderful jungle cruise boat replica ,available before on disney direct ( now look on ebay ) , a perfect reproduction of the original one . Some are still available, and they worth the price, really!

Well, i can hear you say: all this is fine, but we will never find some audio animatronics animals at 200$.....well, may be not...... or may be yes! this is the time to introduce you - if you don't know it yet - to the Wowwee company. Wowwee created the now famous “robosapien” robot - a huge success , 2 millions of it were sold world wide. and the new one the “robosapien, V2 “ is more than impressing. Taller - 24” high - nicer, have 14 different motors and articulations he has the capacity to recognise colours, and, of course, can walk, dance, track moving objects, and even bring you a can of your favorite beer! the movements of this robot are so smooth that it could be at innoventions in epcot !The man who created them is Mark Tilden, an ex-Nasa scientist, currently working on the “V3”, the next robosapien generation to be released next year. The V3 will be one foot taller than the V2 , and will be able to “hear” with a voice recognition system. And we’re talking here about a 250$ robot , not a 500.000 $ AA. So let’s be clear, as good and incredible are the wowwee V2 robots , they are not as sophisticated as the WDI Audio-animatronics and won’t move as smoothly as the pirates of carribean auctioneer figure, but, for the price, they’re already unbelievably good......Now, let’s come back to the animals. Always “pushing” the challenge higher, Wowwee just released their first “life-like” robotic animal, a chimpanzee bust. And this one looks great, too. As a matter of fact, this life-size animatronic replication and realistic behavorial sounds and motions was made possible through the “magic” of realistic hollywood special effects, beginning by the lifelike hair and skin. The chimpanzee have four different moods : curious, fearful, happy, or angry, and look as they say “so real, he’s unreal!” You’ll find all infos and can watch little clips of the robots at :

http://www.wowwee.com/

Hope all these links will give you some decorative ideas and help you to transform your own home with a great “Adventureland” touch at affordable price!

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